Celebrating the College Class of 2019
Family and friends gathered in Cox Auditorium on Saturday, May 18, to celebrate and honor this year’s seniors. In all, 97 graduates make up the Class of 2019—69 received BAs, and 28 received BS degrees. Following the ceremony, jubilant graduates joined excited well-wishers on the Chapel Green for photos and refreshments.
Presiding over her first College commencement, new College president Dr. Jolanda Westerhof (US’77, C’82) shared gratitude and appreciation for the amazing accomplishments of the members of the graduating class. Forty-three percent are academic scholars, 58 percent studied abroad, 54 graduates participated in varsity intercollegiate athletics for at least one season, five participated in a national tournament or championship, and eight were recognized by national governing bodies as excelling academically. “It’s quite a group,” Dr. Westerhof noted.
The commencement address was given by Wambui Kinya (C’98), vice president of partner engineering at Andela, which has recruited more than 1,500 software engineers throughout the African continent and placed them as distributed engineering teams with companies such as Viacom, Github, and dozens of high-growth startups.
Kinya, the first international alum to deliver the College Commencement address, shared her own experience of graduating at a time of “increased agitation” 20 years ago. Recognizing that this may “feel daunting as you embark on your future beyond Principia,” she said, “I posit to you, graduating Class of 2019, that this should instead motivate and inspire.”
While acknowledging that she struggled with the notion of privilege and identity even while at Principia, Kinya encouraged the graduates to embrace their privileged status. “You are privileged to have . . . a unique education so focused on shaping your character development and commitment to service. And to have built experiences, connections, and lessons that ultimately give you influence. . . . Trust in the journey, and please never forget that, as the privileged, you can choose and commit to change the course of thousands—maybe even millions—of deserving and overlooked lives for the better.”
Commencement was the culmination of several days of activities, including speeches by graduating international students and the awards and Baccalaureate ceremonies in Cox Auditorium. At the latter, four seniors (chosen by their peers)—Zach Grennie, Kirill Kudaev, Leigh Ann Weathers, and Lauren Weiss—shared highlights of their experiences at the College. Madison Arens and Alex Kamau served as senior class marshals. All events were livestreamed; you may view them here.